In 2025, fire departments serving West Point responded to 27 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $340K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
182 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 12 | — | |
| 2022 | 57 | — | |
| 2023 | 57 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 29 | -49.1% | |
| 2025 | 27 | -6.9% |
* Well below West Point's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 7 building fires West Point departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 52 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 15.4% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 4 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 3 | 5.8% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 5.8% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 23.1% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the West Point mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 24 | 46.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Point departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $340,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Point sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,808 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 478 | 13.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 372 | 9.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 310 | 15.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 302 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 255 | 16.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 225 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 221 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 213 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 208 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 198 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 162 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 157 | 34.3 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Virginia cities with population within ±25% of West Point. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in West Point.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.